the unsung heroines of sports history

Christina
"Christy" Renée Henrich was a world-class American artistic
gymnast whose death from anorexia nervosa at 22 led to major reforms in the
way women's gymnastics is covered on television and in the news
media.Training with Al Fong at the Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE)
club in Blue Springs, Missouri, Henrich made the U.S. national gymnastics
team in 1986 after placing fifth all-around in the junior division at the
U.S. National Championships.She continued to climb through the elite ranks
over the next four years, placing ninth at the 1988 Olympic Trials and
winning the silver medal in the all-around at the 1989 U.S. National
Championships. Though Henrich was succeeding in gymnastics, a judge at an
international meet in 1989 told her bluntly that she was fluffy and needed
to lose weight. The perception of Henrich's weight being too high was
fueled further by the culture of elite gymnastics, which was dominated by
"pixies"--small, underweight. Desperate to move up the ranks in
the highly competitive world of Olympic-level gymnastics, Henrich took the
criticisms to heart; her drive to lose a few pounds progressed to unhealthy
eating habits and, eventually, became full-blown anorexia
nervosa.Eventually, Henrich's battle with anorexia took such a toll on her
health that she was no longer strong enough to compete, and she was asked
to leave GAGE. Despite many early treatments and hospitalizations,
Christy's weight deteriorated to 47 pounds. Henrich died of multiple organ
failure just eight days after her 22nd birthday.Henrich's death brought the
problem of eating disorders in women's gymnastics into the spotlight.
Prominent gymnasts of the U.S. National Team stepped forward and went
public about their own eating disorders.American television channels
broadcasting gymnastics competitions, such as NBC-TV and ABC-TV, stopped
commenting about or listing gymnasts' weights in captions in the mid-1990s.
Television stations from other nations have adopted similar policies.